Advantages of Using the Nursing Process

There are many advantages to the use of the nursing process:
• The nursing process provides an organizing framework for meeting the individual needs of the client, the client’s family/significant other(s), and the community.

• The steps of the nursing process focus the nurse’s attention on the “individual” human responses of a client or group to a given health situation, resulting in a holistic plan of care addressing the specific needs of the client or group.

• The nursing process provides an organized, systematic method of problem-solving (while still allowing for creative solutions) that may minimize dangerous errors or omissions in caregiving and avoid time-consuming repetition in care and documentation.

• The use of the nursing process promotes the active involvement of clients in their healthcare, enhancing consumer satisfaction. Such participation increases clients’ sense of control over what is happening to them, stimulates problem-solving, and promotes personal responsibility, all of which strengthen the client’s commitment to achieving the identified goals.

• The use of the nursing process enables you as a nurse to have more control over your practice. This enhances the opportunity for you to use your knowledge, expertise, and intuition constructively and dynamically to increase the likelihood of a successful client outcome. This, in turn, promotes greater job satisfaction and your professional growth.

• The use of the nursing process provides a common language (nursing diagnosis) for practice, unifying the nursing profession. Using a system that clearly communicates the plan of care to coworkers and clients enhances continuity of care, promotes achievement of client goals, provides a vehicle for evaluation, and aids in the development of nursing standards. In addition, the structure of the process provides a format for documenting the client’s response to all aspects of the planned care.

• The use of the nursing process provides a means of assessing nursing’s economic contribution to client care. The nursing process supplies a vehicle for the quantitative and qualitative measurement of nursing care that meets the goal of cost-effectiveness and still promotes holistic care.

Summary:
Nursing is continuing to evolve into a well-defined profession with a more clearly delineated definition and phenomena of concern. Fundamental philosophical beliefs and qualities have been identified that are important for the nurse to possess in order to provide quality care. The nursing profession has developed a body of knowledge that contributes to the growth and well-being of the individual and the community, the prevention of illness, and the maintenance and/or restoration of health, or relief of pain and provision of support when a return to health is not possible. The nursing process is the basis of all nursing actions and is the essence of nursing, providing a flexible, orderly, logical problem-solving approach for administering nursing care so that client (whether individual, community, or population) needs for such care are met comprehensively and effectively. It can be applied in any healthcare or educational setting, in any theoretical or conceptual framework, and within the context of any nursing philosophy. Each step of the nursing process builds on and interacts with the other steps, ensuring an effective practice model. Inclusion of the standards of clinical nursing practice provides additional information to reinforce understanding and opportunities to apply knowledge. Please note, the term client rather than patient is used in this book to reflect the philosophy that the individuals or groups you work with are legitimate members of the decision-making process with some degree of control over the planned regimen and as able, active participants in the planning and implementation of their care.4 Next, we introduce the language described in the nursing process. This includes NANDA International’s classification of nursing diagnoses,19 the Iowa Intervention and Outcome Projects: Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC),20 and the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC).21 NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC have combined their classification systems (NNN Alliance) to provide a comprehensive nursing language.